1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to manufacturing products using process standardization. More specifically, the field of the invention is that of electronic work instruction systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today""s manufacturing industry, product manufacturers must manufacture their products faster than they were once able to do in the past. Customers are much more demanding and expect their products to be manufactured and presented to them in a timely manner, no matter the difficulty of the manufacturing process. In an effort to manufacture higher volumes of products at faster rates, many manufacturers are implementing high velocity, quick response order-to-delivery processes. In this way, the manufacturers are able to simultaneously keep their customers satisfied while obtaining more business as well. To achieve these results, many manufacturers are using the Demand Flow(copyright) manufacturing methodology. (Demand Flow(copyright) is a registered trademark of the John Costanza Institute of Technology, Inc. of Englewood, Colo.).
The Demand Flow(copyright) methodology represents a reorientation of manufacturing processes from a scheduled approach (represented by Manufacturing Resource Planning and Enterprise-Wide Resource Planning methodologies) to a flow-based process methodology. Demand Flow(copyright) eliminates many aspects of the schedule environment, such as stage work areas, multi-level bills of material and extensive stockpiling of material inventories. Total Quality Control (xe2x80x9cTQCxe2x80x9d) methods are also designed into the process so that quality is addressed within each step of the manufacturing process.
The Demand Flow(copyright) methodology requires the creation of a TQC Sequence of Events (xe2x80x9cSOExe2x80x9d) document that describes the tasks required to create a product. The time it takes to setup, run and move the product is also captured. Additionally, quality criteria are defined for each work step to manufacture the product. All work tasks must be defined on the SOE document for each product.
Another key component of the Demand Flow(copyright) methodology is the creation of an Operational Method Sheet (xe2x80x9cOMSxe2x80x9d) document. An OMS document represents the documentation of work tasks completed within the Demand Flow(copyright) process, along with verification/inspection of specific quality criteria of the products. The SOE documents are used by process engineering in the development of the OMS document and as a database to keep track of process times. Collectively, SOE documents and OMS documents are known as electronic work instructions (xe2x80x9cEWIsxe2x80x9d).
After tasks have been identified within a process and documented in the SOE document, Operational Definition takes place. Operational Definition is the process of grouping tasks on the SOE document together until the total time is at or below the xe2x80x9ctaktxe2x80x9d time for the process (the xe2x80x9ctaktxe2x80x9d time is the rate at which the manufacturer""s customer requires the product). This grouping of tasks then becomes the work content of the operation, and the work content is manifested on the OMS document in the form of a graphical illustration.
An SOE document and corresponding OMS document can be used for more than one model in certain instances. The Process/Model Matrix Sheet (xe2x80x9cPMSxe2x80x9d) is used to tie the process driven OMS and SOE documents to product model numbers that are produced by doing the work described within them. This allows multiple models that require the same work and times within a process to use the same process documentation.
In the manufacturing environment, process engineers and plant workers work independently to produce a product. Engineers are often located in multiple locations different from those multiple sites at which the manufacturing plants are located, and this occurrence, in addition to all of the possible variations of these differences in locality, make it very difficult for engineers and shop floor workers to work together to efficiently manufacture a product. The use of the Demand Flow(copyright) methodology provides for the creation of EWIs by process engineers, and EWIs serve as a source which plant workers may reference in order to manufacture the product in the plant. Even with the implementation of the Demand Flow(copyright) methodology and its use of SOE and OMS documents, however, manufacturers are still recognizing a gap in their demand flow and supply systems. The supplying of products in an efficient and voluminous manner is often hindered due to the non-standardized manufacturing of products established within many manufacturing environments.
EWIs are often created by different process engineers within the same manufacturing environment. For this reason, EWIs may differ in appearance and/or substantive material. EWIs also may undergo many revisions during the course of the manufacturing process. It is not uncommon for manufacturers to store multiple versions of the EWIs in a system which has no means of classifying the different EWI versions. This creates unnecessary delays when it comes time for process engineers to create new EWIs for a product to be manufactured. These problems adversely affect the efficient manufacturing-capability of manufacturers. Improvement is needed in standardizing the manufacturing of products.
The present invention is a method and system for manufacturing documentation for standardizing product manufacturing in an enterprise. The system has data records that include both a fixed graphical component and a modifiable graphical component. The fixed graphical component is viewable by manufacturing shop floor personnel and the modifiable graphical component is viewable and/or editable by engineering personnel.
In the present invention, a method and system enables the production, storage, access and display of EWI documents from a central file repository, accessible over a network to individuals within an enterprise no matter where the individuals are physically located. The method and system enable its users to perform different functions, including: creating and storing new EWI documents in the central file repository; accessing and managing EWI documents located in the central repository; displaying and/or printing EWI documents at user workstations located within different manufacturing plants; searching the central repository of EWI documents to identify the documents required for tasks to complete; and revising and maintaining control over all EWI documents stored in the system, including specific graphical illustrations that are used as components of the OMS documents. In this way, the EWI documents created by engineering personnel in one facility may be re-used or copied by engineering personnel located in another facility.
In the present invention, a method and system creates a data record representing electronic work instructions, and the data record includes process design data. The process design data pertains to OMS documents. The process design data includes a fixed graphical component and a modifiable graphical component. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the fixed graphical component is a display file, and the modifiable graphical component is a source file. In one form of the present invention, the data record is stored in the central file repository. The central file repository is accessible by a server, and the server is accessible over a network by one or more computer workstations housed in manufacturing plants located in different geographical locations. In one form of the present invention, the network includes a publicly accessible network like the internet. In another form of the present invention, the network includes a private network, for example, a virtual private network. The server which accesses the central file repository creates user groups and provides the user groups with access rights predetermined by the enterprise. These access rights enable the user groups to view and/or edit the data records stored in the central file repository. The present invention enables a user to search the central file repository to identify a data record for viewing or editing, depending on the user""s access rights.
In the present invention, a method and system provides the display file to a first group of individuals of the enterprise who have access rights enabling them to view the display file. This group of individuals often consists of manufacturing plant personnel or shop floor workers. The display file is uploaded to the system as a GIF file and is used as the display illustration for an OMS document. In this way, the manufacturing plant personnel may view the OMS document containing the display illustration on the manufacturing plant floor as they assemble a product being manufactured. In one form of the present invention, the display illustration includes pictorial data, including, among others, scanned images or a digital photos.
In the present invention, a method and system provides the source file to a second group of individuals of the enterprise who have access rights enabling them to both view and modify the source illustration. This group of individuals often consists of process engineers who draft process designs used by manufacturing plant personnel to assemble products. The source illustration is uploaded to the system as a graphics file and is used for source reference. If the source illustration needs to be modified, it is then downloaded back to the software application used to create it. Lastly, when the modifications are made, the source illustration is then uploaded back to the EWI system for OMS usage. In this way, process engineers may use the source illustration while they create process designs, and they may also modify the process designs as necessary. In one form of the present invention, the source illustration includes a vector image created using an illustration program, e.g., Adobe Illustrator(copyright) (xe2x80x9cAIxe2x80x9d) image (Adobe, Illustrator and Adobe Illustrator is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated of Palto Alto, Calif.). In another form of the present invention, the source illustration includes a vector image created using a CAD program, e.g., AutoCAD(copyright) (AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk Inc. of Sausalito, Calif.).
Another aspect of the invention relates to a machine-readable program storage device for storing encoded instructions for a method of manufacturing documentation for standardizing product manufacturing in an enterprise according to the foregoing method.
In one form thereof, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing documentation for standardizing product manufacturing in an enterprise, including the steps of creating a data record representing work instructions, the data record including process design data, the process design data having a fixed graphical component, and a modifiable graphical component; providing the fixed graphical component of the process design data to a first group of individuals of the enterprise for viewing; and providing the modifiable graphical component of the process design data to a second group of individuals of the enterprise for at least one of viewing and modification.
In another form thereof, the present invention provides a product manufacturing information system for an enterprise, including a server accessible by individuals of the enterprise; a database accessible by the server, the database including a data record, the data record including process design data, the process design data having a fixed graphical component and a modifiable graphical component, the server further having access software, the access software limiting access to the modifiable graphical component to a predetermined group of individuals in the enterprise.
In another form thereof, the present invention provides a machine-readable program storage device for storing encoded instructions for a method of manufacturing documentation for standardizing product manufacturing in an enterprise, including the steps of: creating a data record representing work instructions, the data record including process design data, the process design data having a fixed graphical component, and a modifiable graphical component; providing the fixed graphical component of the process design data to a first group of individuals of the enterprise for viewing; and providing the modifiable graphical component of the process design data to a second group of individuals of the enterprise for at least one of viewing and modification.